Stumbling block

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In the Bible, something that leads to sin

title: "Stumbling block" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["catholic-moral-theology", "new-testament-words-and-phrases", "book-of-leviticus"] description: "In the Bible, something that leads to sin" topic_path: "general/catholic-moral-theology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stumbling_block" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary In the Bible, something that leads to sin ::

The Koine Greek word, skándalon (Strong's 4625) means either a 'trap-stick' or a 'stumbling block'. In the Bible, skándalon is used figuratively to mean either something that causes people to sin, or something that causes them to lose their faith in Jesus.

  1. A trap-stick: a stick holding open a baited trap; when a creature touches it, it releases the trap door to capture the prey. This figuratively refers to a person that entices someone into wrongdoing, getting them to thereby harm or destroy themselves. For example, Peter tempting Christ to refuse the crucifixion. Causing others to sin endangers their connection to God and potentially destroys their souls. If the victim thereby falls into mortal sin, the scandalous deed is considered to be likewise mortal sin.
  2. A stumbling stone or tripwire: anything that makes someone trip and fall. This figuratively means "something that causes someone to lose faith in Jesus".

Translation

Noun

As a noun, skandalon means either "temptations that cause people to sin", or "stumbling blocks that cause people to lose faith".

Thus, Matthew 18:7 is translated as either, "Woe to the world for temptations to sin!" or "How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith!"

Verb

The verb skandalizō (Strongs 4624) means 'to lead into sin', or 'to cause to fall away from faith.'

Matthew 18:6 is therefore translated as either, "to cause these little ones to sin," or, "to cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me."

Meaning of scandal and scandalise

Scandal is a "word or act which occasions another's spiritual ruin". Scandalising others is achieved by either enticing them into sin, or by causing them to lose faith.

Scandalising the innocent by the powerful is a mortal sin.

Bible use

Hebrew Bible

The origin of the metaphor is the prohibition of putting a stumbling block before the blind (). Geoffrey W. Bromiley calls the image "especially appropriate to a rocky land like Palestine". In the Hebrew Bible, the term for "stumbling block" is Biblical Hebrew he (מִכְשׁוֹל). In the Septuagint, he is translated into Koine Greek grc ({{linktext|σκανδαλον}}), a word which occurs only in Hellenistic literature, in the sense "snare for an enemy; cause of moral stumbling". In the Septuagint a stumbling block means anything that leads to sin.

New Testament

A stumbling stone makes someone trip and fall. This figuratively means 'something that causes someone to lose faith in Jesus.' According to Strong's Greek Lexicon, this meaning is applied to Jesus, whose person was so contrary to the expectations of the Jews, that they rejected him and thereby lost their salvation. In other words, Jesus is like a stumbling stone because in rejecting him, people fall very heavily.

The New Testament usages of skandalon, such as , resemble Septuagint usage. It appears 15 times in the New Testament in 12 unique verses according to Strong's Concordance. These passages are: , , (3 times), , , , , , , , , , and .

The noun skandalon has a derived verb, skandalizo (formed with the -iz suffix as English "scandalize"), meaning literally "to trip somebody up" or, idiomatically, "to cause someone to sin." This verb appears 29 times in 27 New Testament verses.

Apart from skandalon the idiom of "stumbling block" has a second synonym in the Greek term proskomma "stumbling." Both words are used together in 1 Peter 2:8; this is a "stone of stumbling" (lithos proskommatos λίθος προσκόμματος) and a "rock of offense" (petra skandalou πέτρα σκανδάλου). The antonymous adjective aproskopos (ἀπρόσκοπος), "without causing anyone to stumble," also occurs three times in the New Testament.

Later use

Judaism

Main article: Lifnei iver

The Leviticus warning is developed in rabbinical Judaism as lifnei iver "before the blind".

Christianity

Catholic writings

"Scandal" is discussed by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica. In the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is discussed under the fifth commandment (Thou shalt not kill) section "Respect for the Dignity of Persons".

Actively scandalise is performed by a person; to be passively scandalised is the reaction of a person to active scandalisation ("scandal given" or in Latin scandalum datum), or to acts which, because of the viewer's ignorance, weakness, or malice, are regarded as scandalous ("scandal received" or in Latin scandalum acceptum).

In order to qualify as scandalous, the behavior must, in itself, be evil or give the appearance of evil. To do a good act or an indifferent act, even knowing that it will inspire others to sin — as when a student studies diligently to do well, knowing it will cause envy — is not scandalous. For example, to ask someone to commit perjury is scandalous, but for a judge to require witnesses to give an oath even when he knows the witness is likely to commit perjury is not scandalous. It does not require that the other person actually commit sin; to be scandalous, it suffices that the act is of a nature to lead someone to sin. Scandal is performed with the intention of inducing someone to sin. Urging someone to commit a sin is therefore active scandal. In the case where the person urging the sin is aware of its nature and the person he is urging is ignorant, the sins committed are the fault of the person who urged them. Scandal is also performed when someone performs an evil act, or an act that appears to be evil, knowing that it will lead others into sin. (In case of an apparently evil act, a sufficient reason for the act despite the faults it will cause negates the scandal.) Scandal may also be incurred when an innocent act may be an occasion of sin to the weak, but such acts should not be foregone if the goods at stake are of importance.

Protestant writings

The term "stumbling block" is common in Protestant writings. An early use was Martin Luther's consideration that the common belief that the Mass was a sacrifice was a "stumbling block."

Scandalised by the State

One can be scandalised by the State: They are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to "social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible."

Modern "scandal"

Main article: scandal

The Greek word skandalon was borrowed from Greek to Latin to French, and finally to English as "scandal". The modern English meaning of scandal is a development from the religious meaning, via the intermediate sense of "damage to reputation".

Ways to scandalise

There are nine ways to entice others to sin, persuading them that their sinful conduct is not sinful:

  1. by advice; 2) by command; 3) by consent; 4) by enticement; 5) by flattery; 6) by concealing; 7) by participating; 8) by remaining silent; 9) by defending the ill done.

References

Sources

Citations

References

  1. "Matthew 18:6 - The Greatest in the Kingdom".
  2. "Matthew 16:23 - Christ's Passion Foretold".
  3. "Topical Bible: Stumbling-block".
  4. (2003-09-24). "The Definition of Scandal".
  5. "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
  6. "Strong's Greek: 4625. σκάνδαλον (skandalon) -- a stick for bait (of a trap), generally a snare, a stumbling block, an offense".
  7. (2024-05-17). "Definition of SCANDAL".
  8. "Matthew 18:7 - Temptations and Trespasses".
  9. "Skandalizo Meaning - Greek Lexicon {{!}} New Testament (NAS)".
  10. "SermonIndex.net Audio Sermons - Sermon Index".
  11. ""Offended", "Stumbling Blocks", and "Scandalize"".
  12. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Scandal".
  13. "Definition of SCANDAL".
  14. "Topical Bible: Stumbling-block".
  15. "Matthew 18:6 - the Greatest in the Kingdom".
  16. "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
  17. (1995). "Chronology of OT".
  18. OED "scandal", etymology.
  19. Khatry, Ramesh. (July 15, 2000). "The Authenticity of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and Its Interpretation".
  20. "Strong's Greek: 4625. σκάνδαλον (skandalon) -- Stumbling block, offense, trap, snare".
  21. "G4625 - skandalon - Strong's Greek Lexicon (kjv)".
  22. (November 25, 2024). "Definition of SCANDAL".
  23. (21 October 2014). "Skandalon".
  24. (6 October 2018). "Skandalon".
  25. "Isaiah 8:14 Commentaries: "Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.".
  26. "G4625 – skandalon – Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)". blueletterbible.org.
  27. France, R. T.. (1985). "The Gospel according to Matthew: an introduction and commentary".
  28. "G4624 – skandalizō – Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)". blueletterbible.org.
  29. Hovey, George Rice. (1939). "Stumbling-block; Stumbling-stone".
  30. Heil, John Paul. (2005). "The rhetorical role of Scripture in 1 Corinthians". Society of Biblical Lit.
  31. "G4348 – proskomma – Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)". blueletterbible.org.
  32. "G677 – aproskopos – Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)". blueletterbible.org.
  33. Vander Heeren 1912, "Notion of scandal"
  34. Aquinas, Thomas. (1920). "Scandal". SUMMA THEOLOGICA.
  35. (1992). "Part three: Life in Christ / Section two: The Ten Commandments / Chapter two: You shall love your neighbor as yourself / Article 5: The fifth commandment / ii. Respect for the dignity of persons". [[Holy See]].
  36. Vander Heeren 1912, "Divisions"
  37. Vander Heeren 1912, "Cases in which the sin of scandal occurs (1)"
  38. Vander Heeren 1912, "Cases in which the sin of scandal occurs (3)"
  39. Croken, Robert C.. (1990). "Luther's first front: the Eucharist as sacrifice".
  40. "Catechism of the Catholic Church".
  41. OED "scandal", senses 1–4.
  42. (24 September 2003). "The Definition of Scandal".

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